November 10, 2015
Things here are getting a little better every day – as Ghani/Sam says. Our new house is feeling like home. We have (knock on wood) resolved our plumbing issues and now have 2.5 functioning bathrooms and an ice maker that works. The floor is in the studio, I have some new work tables and shelves (giant thanks to Charlie and Margaret!), and I am starting to get set up in the new space. The kilns are in, electric working, and we even have the exhaust for the kilns working. We have had a lot of help and are grateful beyond measure for that!
It is still crazy hectic. I am not taking full breaths yet. We still have plenty of boxes to get through. J And I am so far behind on production I can’t even think about it! It is too much for me to do all at the same time – house, boys, business, work. I don’t know how other people do it. I always feel like I am forgetting things!
The house passed the test with flying colors on Trick or Treat night. It was an insane sprint to get the place clean and organized, but we did it! We invited friends to come over and we had over 200 trick or treaters come to the door! It was a busy, wonderful night. Everyone agreed that this is a super party house. J Thanks to Sherry who brought a trunk full of costumes, Ghani and Hedayat got dressed up and went trick-or-treating with Sherry and her husband and daughter. They had a great time! When we ran out of candy to hand out, the boys donated their trick or treat candy. So, trick or treat night is going to be a big party night at our house as an annual tradition. Nolan is already figuring out decorations for next year. Our neighbors have been amazing. We even got a cake and a card from one of them last week! Everyone has been super friendly and welcoming.
The boys are doing well. They like school, though they find it challenging to communicate with their classmates who don’t speak English. They are struggling a bit – mostly with math, so we are arranging for some tutoring and practicing at home. I think we will also set up some online and other school-type work for them to do at home. It is hard to know how much to push there. They have been here for just 2 months, and Hedayat (James) only learned to read and write less than 2 years ago.
Ghani has “the knack” – he fixed our garbage disposal, my kiln, and a variety of other things that I can’t think of at the moment. He wants to get into a program where he can get his auto mechanic certificate. He already knows most of what he would need as he worked for years in a mechanic shop.
Hedayat is more of an artist. I think he is a good dancer – we have seen some fun videos of him at the shelter in Jakarta. He isn’t too impressed with the dancing here – says it is too easy. Still, I think the boys would find it fun to take a Latin dance class and learn to do some of the dances that kids here do.
We joined the JCC (which is 3 blocks away) and the boys go there after school sometimes to swim and practice soccer. We want to get the boys into some classes for art and music and theatre – expose them to a variety of creative outlets and see if any seem to be passions for them. The boys have signed up for winter sports and I have no idea when those start or what the schedules will be. It is pretty funny being a new parent with teenagers! We are clueless about a lot of things that “normal” parents just know from going through all these things from kindergarten. Despite our deficiencies, we are loving the experience and the boys seem to be happy.
As everyone warned, our grocery habits have changed. We go through 2 gallons of milk and apple cider a week. Fortunately, the boys prefer babaganoush, apples, and red beans for snacks – so junk food isn’t an issue. I am not sure what we ate before they got here, but dinners are a much bigger deal now. The boys like spicy foods, so in addition to salt and pepper, Sriracha is always on our dinner table as a condiment. We are eating Indian and Mexican a lot. We also have been working on making their favorite Afghani dish – Qabili pilau. It is a dish with rice, chicken, carrots and raisins – very delicious and not spicy. So far we have gotten close to how it is supposed to taste, but we don’t quite have it perfected, so we will have to keep working on it. And Ghani is talking about making fresh bread – I am looking forward to that!
Some things that are on our to do as soon as we can list: NYC (see the statue of Liberty), art museum, planetarium, theatre production, Philadelphia. Also on the list of things to do… bowling, movies, watch all the classic Christmas movies and tv shows, sledding, skiing – and lots more!
I put photos of the boys in an album online – you can see them here…
Virginia